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Aim The study reports a 2-year single-center experience of the practice of skin antisepsis using a 0.05% sodium hypochlorite solution before central venous catheter placement in neonates. Methods Eligible subjects included any hospitalized neonate who needed a central line for at least 48 hours. Infants were excluded if they had a generalized or localized skin disorder. An ad hoc Excel (Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA) file was used to record the data from each patient. The catheter sites were monitored daily for the presence of contact dermatitis. Central line-associated bloodstream infection was diagnosed according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition. Results One hundred five infants underwent central venous catheter placement and were enrolled. A total of 198 central lines were inserted. The median gestational age was 31 weeks (range, 23-41 weeks) and median birth weight was 1,420 g (range, 500-5,170 g). There were no signs of 0.05% sodium hypochlorite-related skin toxicity in any infant. Of 198 catheters (1,652 catheter-days) prospectively studied, 9 were associated with bloodstream infections (5.4 per 1,000 catheter-days). Conclusion During the observation period, no local adverse effects were observed suggesting that 0.05% sodium hypochlorite may be a safe choice in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is characterized by electrical, contractile, and structural remodeling mediated by interstitial fibrosis. It has been shown that human cardiac mesenchymal progenitor cells (CMPCs) can be differentiated into endothelial, smooth muscle, and fibroblast cells. Here, we have investigated, for the first time, the contribution of CMPCs in the fibrotic process occurring in AF. As expected, right auricolae samples displayed significantly higher fibrosis in AF vs control (CTR) patients. In tissue samples of AF patients only, double staining for c-kit and the myofibroblast marker α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was detected. The number of c-kit-positive CMPC was higher in atrial subepicardial regions of CTR than AF cells. AF-derived CMPC (AF-CMPC) and CTR-derived CMPC (Ctr-CMPC) were phenotypically similar, except for CD90 and c-kit, which were significantly more present in AF and CTR cells, respectively. Moreover, AF showed a lower rate of population doubling and fold enrichment vs Ctr-CMPC. When exogenously challenged with the profibrotic transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), AF-CMPC showed a significantly higher nuclear translocation of SMAD2 than Ctr-CMPC. In addition, TGF-β1 treatment induced the upregulation of COL1A1 and COL1A2 in AF-CMPC only. Further, both a marked production of soluble collagen and α-SMA upregulation have been observed in AF-CMPC only. Finally, electrophysiological studies showed that the inwardly rectifying potassium current (IK1) was evenly present in AF- and Ctr-CMPC in basal conditions and similarly disappeared after TGF-β1 exposure. All together, these data suggest that AF steers the resident atrial CMPC compartment toward an electrically inert profibrotic phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is underdiagnosed and public cholesterol screening may be useful to find new subjects. In this study, we aim to investigate the prevalence of FH patients in a hospital screening program and evaluate their atherosclerotic burden using intima-media thickness (IMT).Methods and Results: We screened 1575 lipid profiles and included for genetic analysis adults with a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol >190 mg/dL and triglycerides <200 mg/dL and first-degree child relatives with LDL cholesterol >160 mg/dL and triglycerides <200 mg/dL. The diagnosis of FH was presumed by Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) criteria and confirmed by the presence of the genetic variant. Mean common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was assessed using consensus criteria. After confirming LDL cholesterol value and excluding secondary hypercholesterolemia, 56 subjects with a DLCN ≥4 performed genetic analysis. Of these, 26 had an FH genetic variant. The proportion of patients with a mutation having a DLCN score of 6-8 was 75%; in individuals with a DLCN score >8 it was 100%. Mean IMT was higher in FH patients compared to non FH (0.73 [0.61-0.83] vs 0.71 [0.60-0.75] mm, p < 0.01). Moreover, we detected two mutations not previously described. Finally, simple regression analysis showed a correlation of IMT with LDL cholesterol >190 mg/dL and corneal arcus (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively).Conclusions: A hospital screening was useful to detect FH subjects with increased atherosclerosis. Also, next-generation sequencing was able to detect new FH mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precipitation of endoglucanase from Aspergillus niger with synthetic and natural electrically charged polymers -poly vinyl sulfonate (PVS) and chitosan (CHS)- was characterized and applied to a simple method of purification of an enzymatic extract obtained from fungal culture under solid-state fermentation (SSF). The kinetics of complex formation was determined. The results of the kinetic profile obtained for CHS and PVS indicated an exothermic mechanism for the formation of the non-soluble complex. CHS exhibited a marked stabilizing effect on endoglucanase. The enzyme precipitated successfully with both polymers. The precipitation method applied to commercial endoglucanase and the fungal extract showed similar patterns with high purification factors. The recovery of the activity in the re-dissolved precipitate from the fungal extract was close to 40% at pH 5.3 using PVS (1% w/w) as precipitating agent and the purification factor was near 9. The purification factor of endo glucanase in the precipitate of the enzymatic extract from SSF with CHS (0.05% w/v) was around 7. These parameters make this precipitation method appropriate to be included in the last stages of a downstream process, with advantages such as simplicity, scalability and ability to concentrate and stabilize the enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulase has by vast applications in the biofuel, pulp and paper, detergent and textile industries. The three components of the enzyme complex (endoglucanase, exoglucanase and β-glucosidase) can effectively depolymerize the cellulose chains in lignocellulosic substrate. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) by fungi is a preferable production route for cellulase because of its low cost, among other advantages. This work describes the cellulase production by Aspergillus niger NRRL3 grown on SSF. SSF was carried out on soybean hulls and waste paper as supports. The effect of the support on cellulase production was assessed under a completely randomized factorial design. The support-time interaction was significant for all the variables studied. Both materials were characterized in terms of water absorption index and critical humidity point. Samples of culture were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study spores and fungal growth. Maximum endoglucanase activity was found at 96 h using soybean hulls as support (5914.29 U L −1 ), being four times higher than that obtained using waste paper at the same fermentation time. The exoglucanase activity in soybean hulls was maximal at 96 h (4551.19 U L −1 ), being 9.6 times higher than that obtained in waste paper at the same time. The maximum β-glucosidase activity in soybean hulls (984.01 U L −1 ) was reached at 96 h, being 1.7 times greater than that obtained in waste paper. Besides, the use of soybean hulls provided high volumetric productivities at shorter times, which may decrease production costs considering a scaled process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work aimed to investigate the main quality attributes that influence the purchase decisions of fresh berries. To this regard, an empirical survey has been conducted by interviewing 200 consumers of fresh berries at the exit of the main centers of the large scale retail trade in the city of Munich (Germany). An econometric model has been adopted to examine the relationship that single attributes has on the purchase frequency of fresh berries. Results showed that nutraceutical properties and health benefits of berries have a strong appeal to the consumers and confirmed that intrinsic attributes are determinants of consumer purchase decision [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: To describe the hematologic outcome and long-term survival of patients enrolled in the Shwachman-Diamond syndrome Italian Registry.Study Design: A retrospective and prospective study of patients recorded in the Shwachman-Diamond syndrome Italian Registry.Results: The study population included 121 patients, 69 males and 52 females, diagnosed between 1999 and 2018. All patients had the clinical diagnosis confirmed by mutational analysis on the SBDS gene. During the study period, the incidence of SDS was 1 in 153 000 births. The median age of patients with SDS at diagnosis was 1.3 years (range, 0-35.6 years). At the first hematologic assessment, severe neutropenia was present in 25.8%, thrombocytopenia in 25.5%, and anemia in 4.6% of patients. A normal karyotype was found in 40 of 79 patients, assessed whereas the most frequent cytogenetic abnormalities were isochromosome 7 and interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 20. The cumulative incidence of severe neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia at 30 years of age were 59.9%, 66.8%, and 20.2%, respectively. The 20-year cumulative incidence of myelodysplastic syndrome/leukemia and of bone marrow failure/severe cytopenia was 9.8% and 9.9%, respectively. Fifteen of 121 patients (12.4%) underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Fifteen patients (12.4%) died; the probability of overall survival at 10 and 20 years was 95.7% and 87.4%, respectively.Conclusions: Despite an improvement in survival, hematologic complications still cause death in patients with SDS. Further studies are needed to optimize type and modality of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and to assess the long-term outcome in nontransplanted patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]